Finding Destiny
by Calie1
Summary: Takes place after How to Stop and Exploding Man. Everyone's gone on with their lives, trying to forget what happened, but the determination of one girl will change that. AU only because Claire it not related to any of the Peterelli's. ClairePeter.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Finding Destiny

Author: Calie

Summary: Takes place after "How to Stop and Exploding Man". Everyone's gone on with their lives, trying to forget what happened, but the determination of one girl will change that. AU only because Claire it not related to any of the Peterelli's. Claire/Peter.

Notes: I'm not sure where I am going with this. It started out just based on Claire and Peter and his disappearance at the end of the season finale.

* * *

"Are you sure about this Claire?" Bennet asked and was prepared to get back in the car with her at a moments notice. Over the past six months he'd become accustomed to the fact that Claire was very able to make her decisions. When she had went into their house with Ted he hadn't stopped her, when she had wanted to stay with Peter he hadn't stopped her. It was for all those reasons he had been hesitant to letting her go to school in New York.

"Dad." Just that word and a smile was all it took for him to shut his door and walk to the trunk of his car. While her father began unloading some of her bags Claire took a moment to stare up at the tall buildings in front of her. Being from a small town, New York had been a sort of culture shock for her. Oddly enough Claire was finding she was more scared now then those months ago when she had been with Peter. Something in her stomach clenched when she thought about him and she struggled to push him out of her mind in case her tears returned. Her father believed she'd moved to New York to find him, but it was more than that. Everything had happened in New York. She wanted answers. Even if those people she had seen in the square were no longer in New York she knew one person was, Mohinder Suresh. Dr. Suresh knew where everyone was and if he didn't then he knew where the young girl was who could find them.

"Come on."

Claire nodded with a smile and followed her father up the steps.

* * *

"I need your word that when she comes to you that you will send her away. I don't want her involved in this any longer." 

Suresh studied the man in glasses for a few moments. When he had answered the door Bennet was the last person he expected to see on the other side. It had been months since he had last seen the man. When Bennet had walked away with his daughter Suresh had been sure that would have been the last he would have seen of either one of them. Now here was this man, that he didn't entirely trust, telling him that his daughter wanted answers. "I can send her away, but she won't stop, you have to know that."

"I do, but if I can deter her eventually she may let this go." At least he hoped. Claire was quite mature for her age and when she was determined to do something she would do so.

"She won't. No one can. Even she does it will find her. How many of us fought against it but we found ourselves together in the same place. None of us knew one another but destiny brought us together." Suresh knew his words were falling on deaf ears. Reasoning with a man that was trying to keep his daughter safe was impossible.

"How many people died? How many people almost died?" Bennet shook his head with determination. "Claire may not be able to die but I will not have her watch the people she knows die. It took her months to deal with what happened to Peter and Nathan, I don't want her to go through that again."

"Matt told me Peter absorbed her power. Peter may not even be dead."

"It doesn't matter. What matters is she has a chance to finish school, live a life that isn't filled with danger and death." Bennet narrowed his eyes and held Suresh's gaze. "Do I have your word."

Suresh was reluctant to turn anyone away but he nodded his head. If he was lucky she'd never show up at his door.

With a nod Bennet headed to the door. Just as she placed his hand on the knob he turned back to Suresh. "How is Molly?"

"Fine. She still gets daily transfusions of my blood but she's fine. She'dssafe were she is. They can protect her." Even though his blood had been the cure for her he still felt guilty for not being able to protect her.

* * *

"Look!" Micah held up a picture to the young girl sitting next to him and was rewarded with a loud laugh before she looked to the TV with a groan. "What?" 

"Oprah." Molly wrinkled her nose and was relieved when Micah put his hand on the TV. Within moments the channel was changed and she smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem." He smiled and looked over to his mother who was standing in the doorway. "Mom? Everything okay?"

"Yea." Niki smiled warmly then turned from the living room and headed back to the kitchen. "How's it going?"

"Fine." With a frustrated sigh D.L. rubbed his face with his hands. "I'm not used to balancing balancing money."

Niki smirked and headed back to the stove. "I'm not used to cooking. It's hard being responsible. How are we looking?"

"Okay. That money we stole from Linderman is what's keeping up going. It also doesn't hurt that Suresh is still sending money for Molly. But having to pick up and move like we did three months ago didn't help us." Having had enough mathematics, D.L. sat back in the chair and watched Niki. "Eventually were going to have to get a job and they need to be put in school."

"I know." Niki sighed and glanced back to D.L. "I just feel safer when we're all together. I can't protect them if they aren't here."

"I know that. But they aren't without some protection, you know that. We can't keep them locked up in this house forever." She didn't respond and when he heard a small sniff he stood up and made his way over to her. "Niki."

"I'm fine. It's just both of them have been used by other people. I mean we've all been used for our abilities, but they're only children." His hands on her shoulders forced her to turn around and she couldn't help but be relieved when he pulled her into his arms.

"I don't know." He whispered softly into her hair.

Both Molly and Micah quietly hurried for the kitchen doorway and back to the living room. "We're going to be back in New York." Molly said softly.

"You can't predict the future now can you?" When she shook her head Micah was slightly relieved, the last place he wanted to be was New York.

"But they're gathering again." She whispered and leaned forward. "He's not gone Micah." The fact that the boogey man was still alive was something they all knew.

"So." In a poor attempt to show he didn't care Micah picked a crayon up and started coloring again.

"We can't escape one another." Molly waited but when she didn't receive a response from Micah she frowned. It was so hard for him to understand how she felt. She was connected to them all, there was not way for her to turn her back from it like Micah did. "That's not all." Molly scooted closer so that Micah could hear her softening voice. "He's back Micah, I felt him today."

Finally Micah turned and looked at Molly. As much as he wanted to ignore her he had to admit she had peaked his curiosity. "Who?" Her face brightened with a smile and he felt a little upset that she could have been so happy about the prospect of returning to New York. He'd had enough of people using him with claims of saving the world.

"The exploding man of course."


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Finding Destiny

Author: Calie

Summary: Takes place after How to Stop and Exploding Man. Everyone's gone on with their lives, trying to forget what happened, but the determination of one girl will change that. AU only because Claire it not related to any of the Peterelli's.

* * *

"Claire, you coming?"

The voice barely penetrated through the haze Claire found herself in. "What?"

"It's Friday. I know I couldn't convince you to rush but I'm in now, so why don't you come to the party with us."

"No, that's okay. I've got a lot of school work to catch up on."

"Oh come on." The brunette girl whined and walked up behind Claire to peer over her shoulder. "Why are you searching the newspaper?"

"School." After quickly minimizing the web page Claire turned in her chair. "I've really got a lot of stuff to do."

"You go to school out of town with no degree in mind only to sit in your room all day. Why?"

"Come on Beth." Claire sighed exasperatedly and headed to the small refrigerator. After pulling out a water she headed over to where she dropped her purse and slung it over her shoulder. "I'm going out, just not to a party."

"A date then?" Beth asked as she followed Claire to the door.

"No. I'm going to visit an old friend."

* * *

Claire had tried to follow her fathers wishes and not make contact with anyone. Instead she'd tried to make herself content with researching on the computer. Trying to find out where they were, perhaps even discover a hint of the phenomenon that was Peter or Sylar. Considering how impulsive they both were she was hoping to get lucky but she still had found nothing. Something in the back of her mind told her not to forget that Peter may not have survived the explosion but she refused to believe it. It was the recurring dead ends that led her to the one place her father had forbid her to go. The first and second time no one had answered. This time she'd called his phone from a store across the street from his apartment. When he'd answered she'd hung up and quickly headed across the street, determined to catch him. Now she was knocking insistently at his door. "I know your in there Dr. Suresh. Who do you think just called your phone." It was only a second later when the lock clicked and she found herself face to face with the man who had been avoiding her. "Can I come in?"

"I don't see I have much of a choice." Mohinder opened the door wider and stepped back for her to enter.

As soon as she stepped into his apartment she found herself in another world. There were computers, books, papers, pictures of people on his walls, and a large map with pins in it. "Are these all for them? People like me." When she looked at him he didn't answer. "I know my father, his intentions are good, but he hasn't quite lost the habit of trying to control my life from behind my back. He can be very intimidating at times." Still he had something and with a sigh she concluded she'd have to do all of the talking. "Look Dr. Suresh, I can't have a normal life like my father wants. It's to late for that."

It was obvious she wasn't going to be deterred by his silence. His only other option was to find out what she wanted and try to convince her other wise. "What is it you want?"

"I don't know. I mean I almost saw New York get blown up, I've been killed more times then I can count, and I've seen someone I care about disappear in a nuclear blast. There has to be more now than just me going to school and going to frat parties!"

"I don't know what else there is." He could finally see her problem and knew, unlike her father, that there was no turning back for her. She had been involved with something great, something most people would never understand, and now she was expected to lead a normal life. It was impossible after seeing so much.

"Alright fine. Then let's start with a more specific question. Sylar and Peter. So far that we know of Sylar is alive and Peter should be. Where are they?" When he didn't answer she felt her anger begin to boil again. "Tell me."

"Sylar is off the radar. We're not sure if he is alive or not. Peter..." Mohinder could see the hope in her eyes and wasn't sure if telling her was a good idea or not. "Peter, is somewhere." Her eyes brightened and he prayed she wouldn't cry. Dealing with an upset ten year old was one thing but an upset eighteen year old was another. "Molly says he is moving fast. He never stays in one place for long."

"Then we can find him right? Maybe we can get Hiro to help. We need to find him." By the frown on Dr. Suresh's face she knew his answer. "Why not?"

"Peter doesn't want to be found. Why do you think he moves so much? Not only that he most likely absorbed Molly's power and will know as soon as one of you gets close." It wasn't that Mohinder hadn't considered going in search of Peter. In fact having Peter out there made him nervous. He was unpredictable with his powers and with the loss of his brother who knew what his state of mind was. "I'm worried about him being out there to, but there is no one strong enough to even stop him."

"No." Claire agreed softly. "You're right. But we can try can't we? If Peter is out there he needs help. Nathan gave his life to save us and Peter. We can't leave Peter alone now. It isn't his fault that he is what he is." Dr. Suresh didn't say anything but she had a feeling he was considering it. "Please, I can't leave Peter out there alone, not knowing what is going on with him."

"Do you think he'd listen to you?" That was one of Mohinder's main concerns. Even if he was able to find Peter chances are no one would be able to get him to listen."

Peter had never really listened to her but he had cared about her she knew and she had cared deeply for him. At this point there weren't many people Peter had left. His brother was gone and his mother didn't exactly have her priorities in order. "I don't know, but I'm your best bet at this point."

"Then what's your plan?" Mohinder prayed that Bennet never got wind of this or he was a dead man.

* * *

"Why not just fly?" Mohinder asked as they sat on his sofa and waited.

"Because I'm in school. If I was gone for days my dad would figure it out. Plus, Hiro is more than willing to help. I think he's tired of sitting around to." As if to prove the point Hiro appeared directly in front of them. They had made the phone call to him only five minutes ago. "That was quick."

"I want to help." Hiro looked around and could barely contain his excitement. It had been months since he had return from his accidental trip from Kyoto and he had been stuck in Japan ever since. "Where are we going?"

For the first time in a very long time Claire smiled. "To save Peter."

* * *

Niki looked around at their odd little family and tried to smile. It was hard to when they were getting pulled right back into what they had been trying to avoid. Molly had been insistent on helping though, especially when it was Mohinder that was requesting it.

"So this guy, he just travels through time?" D.L. asked lamely, anything to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Yea. Travels through time, freezes it, and can transport himself." Niki struggled to think of something to say but Molly beat her to it.

"There here." A second later there was a loud pop and three people stood in the middle of the room. "Mohinder!"

"Molly." For the first time in months he breathed a sigh of relief and took her in his arms. "You're doing okay?"

"Oh yea. Micah and I, we just play all day long. Niki's learning how to cook too." Molly leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "But it's taking a while."

He couldn't help but smile at her. His happiness was short lived though when he remembered the others in the room. "Molly, you told me you could find the exploding man." When she nodded he continued. "Well this lady here wants to find him. She is a good friend of his and she wants to help him. It's important that we find him Molly. He is important."

"But if we bring him back, he won't blow up right? Because that flying man, he's gone, he can't take him back up there." Molly pointed up for emphasis.

"That's why we need to find him. To make sure he's okay. We don't want him to blow up again either." She seemed to consider it for a moment and then nodded. "You've got your map."

"Yea."

Claire watched quietly as the little girl went back to the table. It was still amazing to her that this little small girl was the tracking system they had been so intent on taking out. "I'm Claire, this is Hiro."

"We've met." Micah smiled and waved at Hiro. "Do the rest of you have powers?"

"Micah." D.L. admonished. It was hard enough for them to live with their powers, he knew from experience that the last thing people wanted was to tell people about themselves.

"It's okay." Claire said with a smile even though she had been slightly taken aback. She still wasn't accustomed to being around so many people like her. "Dr. Suresh doesn't but I can heal, from anything."

"You can't die?"

"No." Claire laughed softly at his wide eyes.

"Is that why Peter Petrelli is still alive?" Suddenly the pieces were fitting together for Niki. Everyone was so connected to one another it was giving her a headache.

"Yes. He's died twice already, there was no reason for him not to live through the third time. Ted, the man that originally had the radioactive powers that Peter absorbed, he blew up my house." Claire paused remembering how much her life had changed when her her father sent her away. "I made it out alive."

"Here." Molly said and pointed to were the tack was stuck in the map.

"Canada?" Mohinder said with confusion. "Why Canada?"

"It's not New York. Hiro?"

Hiro nodded to Claire and looked over the map and looked backed up to her with an excited smile. "Let's go."

When Claire saw Dr. Suresh stand up she shook her head. "Stay here. If he leaves again I can call you and find out where he is." It pained her to say it but she continued. "I don't know what Peter is like now. If he tries something..." Claire didn't even try to finish the thought out loud. The last thing she wanted to think about was Peter hurting someone. "Hiro can get out of there and I can't die." When he nodded she was grateful. "I need something. If Peter isn't who he used to be I need to stop him."

"A gun?" Niki asked with a shrug and headed to the back. She had remembered the young girl point the gun at Petrelli. Although Niki wasn't quite sure how it was supposed to stop him she figured it was better than nothing.

When Niki deposited the weapon in Claire's hand she smiled gratefully. "Thanks." With a sigh she turned to Hiro. "Ready?"


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Finding Destiny Part 3

Author: Calie

Summary: Takes place after How to Stop and Exploding Man. Everyone's gone on with their lives, trying to forget what happened, but the determination of one girl will change that. AU only because Claire it not related to any of the Peterelli's. ClairePeter.

* * *

"Could this be any creepier?" Claire mumbled under her breath. When she and Hiro had reappeared they found themselves in a darkened unused warehouse.

"Very scary." Hiro agreed and pulled out his sword. "Like a movie."

Regardless of the situation she smiled at his comment. "He's got to be here. This is the only building in the area."

"Maybe he is gone. Maybe he knew we were coming."

"Let's finish scoping it out. If we can't find any evidence of Peter I will call Dr. Suresh." That wouldn't be needed though. Claire gasped as an invisible forced surrounded her neck. It couldn't be Peter. She thought for months what he might be like but she never believed that he would hurt her.

Hiro turned to Claire and before he even had time to react her body flew across the building and was impaled on a piece of sheet metal. "Claire!"

"No!" Claire yelled and tried to push herself off of the metal but the jagged edges caught on her body.

Before Hiro even turned he felt the presence of someone behind him. It wasn't hard to notice that by the look in the mans eyes he intended Hiro harm. With a yell he slid his sword through the mans stomach. It didn't quite cause the effect he had been hoping for.

"He can't die! Get out of here!" Claire struggled to push herself off the metal but only found herself more frustrated and panicked by her inability to free herself.

Hiro turned to Claire then back to Peter before disappearing.

Just as Hiro disappeared so did Peter and for a moment she feared Peter followed him but when he reappeared standing over her she gasped. It wasn't her Peter. "Peter." He grabbed the collar of her jacket and yanked our off of the metal. It hadn't hurt but it sure had pulled on her insides pretty hard. "Fuck!"

"What do you want?"

"What do I want? Peter, where have you been?" Claire looked down to her stomach and frowned. "Look what you did to me! You killed me!"

"You can't die." He said harshly and turned away from her.

"You choked me and threw me onto that thing." He continued walking from her and she frowned. "Idiot." Determined not to let him go she followed. It suddenly occurred to her that Hiro would most likely be showing back up and she had a feeling that wouldn't help matters. As quietly as possible she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Suresh's number. It hadn't even rang before he answered. "I'm fine."

"_Are you sure?"_

"Well for now. I'll call you back." Claire hung up the phone without a response and continued down the path Peter had gone. In a dark corner she found him sitting against a wall and watching her. "Why the hell did you do that? Like you couldn't tell it was me." When he didn't say anything she tried to let go of her anger and instead focused on Peter. "Peter." His eyes left hers and she knew he was going to avoid saying anything to her.

"Get out."

"No, I've went through a lot of trouble to find you. I'm not leaving now." She was unsure of where to even begin. She wanted to ask him to come back to New York but she had a feeling he would resist that. Then there was the matter of his state of mind. He didn't look like he was doing all that well and that concerned her. All she wanted was for her Peter to come back.

"Your broadcasting your thoughts so loud is giving me a fucking headache. No I'm not going back to New York, you're right, my state of mind isn't all that well, and your Peter is long gone." A look of hurt came over her face that he should have regretted but he wouldn't let himself. It hadn't been his intention to choke her and throw her. His powers were so jumbled nothing came through clearly anymore. All he knew was that someone was coming but he couldn't quite figure out who.

"Fine, but that doesn't mean I still don't care. I came all this way to help you Peter." Still his eyes didn't meet hers so she decided to try another tactic. She moved slowly towards him, as if approaching a small animal, then sat down in front of him. "What are you going to do? Keep running? You'll never get this sorted out on your own."

That wasn't totally the truth, Peter was starting to get control of himself. If he could just get a break from absorbing more power he might be okay. Not just because of what happened to him before but because it ate at what was left of him until he feared there would be nothing of himself left. "I know what you want and the answer is no Claire. Get out of here."

"Well then you must know I'm not leaving until you give me something Peter. I'm not going to leave here empty handed."

Unfortunately, she was telling the truth. He could tell what she had gone through to find him and had no intention of leaving. "Then you'll be here a while."

"Peter, just let me try and help you. You've already absorbed my power so I'm no threat to you and I can't die. Plus we had something Peter remember? Remember that day when we were waiting for Ted, Matt, and my dad. Do you remember what I told you?"

"Yes I remember. You said I made you feel like you belong. Look at me Claire. Take a good look at me. Do you think I really want to belong to this freak show anymore?" He could feel her hurt coming off of her in waves but that's what she needed. She had all these illusions of saving him that he needed to make her realize weren't real.

"You don't have a choice. When I tried to leave, to lead a normal life you told me I had a destiny, that I was part of something. Just because it's you wanting to leave this time doesn't make it any different." _How many times are you going to lie to me Peter?_

It was his turn to be stung by her words but he tried not to let it phase him for long. It didn't really matter how he felt, he needed to stay away, from everyone. "I was wrong."

"No." The last thing she would believe was that he had been wrong. In a risky attempt to try to convince him other wise she scooted closer between his legs. "Peter you weren't wrong."

"Really? Nathan's dead isn't he? I was wrong about something."

The pain in his voice was so obvious to Claire's ears that it made her hurt for him. "No you weren't. You did everything you could. You did more than anyone Peter. Nathan died to save people, to save you from having the guilt of killing people."

Peter dropped his head back against the wall and groaned. "What do you want Claire."

"I want you to let me help you. I want you to come back with me." He looked at her again and she knew it was going to be hard to convince him to return with her.

"Do you not remember what I did to you? I can't separate my powers well enough to use one properly. I knew someone was coming to try to get me but I couldn't tell who. I'm still a danger to people Claire, why can't you understand that?" She refused to believe that he knew. He could hear her thoughts. She needed him to be there for her. It only made it harder to turn her away knowing that she depended on him so much and he couldn't be there for her.

"I can. But I also can't leave you here." He rested his head against the wall again but she wasn't going to let him avoid her any longer. She brought her hands up to his cheeks and pulled his head down to look at her. "I will not leave you here Peter. I can't leave knowing what you are going through. People need you, and I need you more."

"You don't understand." Her gaze was tearful and he could feel the walls he put up breaking as her thoughts and emotions started to overtake him.

"No I don't. I have no idea what your going through Peter and I'm sorry. But I know your not a bad person and you don't deserve to live like this." Gently, Claire brushed his long hair away from his face and behind his ears. "Peter."

"Stop it." It was like what Peter imagined a panic attack felt like. For him though his powers became jumbled and he couldn't concentrate on any one thing, he couldn't think. All he had heard was her voice in his head begging him not to leave her. He couldn't block it out and he could feel all the walls he had built up over the past few months crumbling down under her strong emotions.

"Hey, hey, look at me." He didn't seem to be hearing her though. Claire tightened her hold on his face and forced him to look directly at her. "Look at me Peter. I'm not leaving you. So if your blowing up or about to pass out I'm staying here. So save me the trouble of having to lug your heavy body around and get a hold of yourself, please." Her words were supposed to be firm but when her voice started to break she knew they hadn't come out as she had intended.

It had taken so long to harden his mind to people then she walked back into his life and talked to him for just ten minutes and he was breaking down again.

It was when he began hyper ventilating that Claire really began to panic. She had tried talking him through it but he didn't seem to be hearing anything she said. Then just as quickly as it had started it stopped. His eyes drooped closed and she struggled to catch him before he fell over. "Alright then." Claire scooted next to him and pulled him onto her lap. Once he was situated in what looked to be a comfortable position she sat there in silence, clinging to him. "Peter." The tears that had been threatening to spill earlier were unavoidable now that he was passed out. It had been so long since Claire had seen Peter and to have her hero in her arms so broken she didn't quite know what to do. The first step was to get him out of there. There was no way she was going to desert him in the condition he was in. The phone hardly rang before Suresh picked up. "Tell Hiro to come back. But get everyone out but Niki. I don't know how he is going to react and the last thing he needs is to absorb more powers." Claire paused before making one more request. "And I need a bed ready. He's out cold."


End file.
